Eaves trough drain strainer



D N A Y E L c EAVES TROUGH DRAIN STRAINER Filed March 8, 1934 V (MENTOR. L.@%'W.

Patented Oct. 27, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE 5 Claims.

This invention relates to strainers, and more particularly to a strainer adapted for use in a drain pipe or down spout of an eaves trough or drain gutter.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved drain pipe strainer comprising a plurality of ribs having straight lower sections and outwardly curved or bowed upper sections, so arranged as to form a cage, cylindrical at the bottom and dome-shaped at the top.

A further object is to provide a strainer of the above nature in which each rib is made from a flat longitudinal strip of sheet metal bent into U-shape or channel cross-section.

A further object is to provide a strainer of the above nature in which the upper ends of the ribs have tongues which are bent around a flat apex ring, and said ribs are uniformly spaced apart at the lower cylindrical section of the strainer by a ring of channel-shaped cross-section, to which the ribs are interlocked to produce a rigid construction.

A further object is to provide a strainerof the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very efficient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, there have been illustrated on the accompanying drawing two forms in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the first form of down spout strainer embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the same Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail perspective view of the lower spacing ring and attached ribs.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the upper section of one of the ribs, the view being taken along the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the flat apex ring adapted to be connected to the upper ends of the ribs.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the ribs as it appears before assembly.

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary perspective view, similar to Fig. 3, of a modified form of lower spacing ring.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral H] indicates generally the cage-like down spout strainer, which has an upper substantially spherical dome-shaped portion H and a lower cylindrical portion l2 adapted to fit in the down spout of an eaves trough. The strainer device is constructed from a plurality of guard members or ribs I3, preferably made from flat sheet metal strips and formed into U-shaped or channel cross-section, the upper portion of each rib l3 being bowed outwardly as indicated at I4, while the lower portion [5 thereof is made straight (see Fig. 6)

Each of the ribs 13 is provided at the free end of its bowed section l4 with an integral flat straight tongue member it, having no side wings. A pair of opposed outwardly formed locking nibs I! are formed on the edges of the side wings of the lower straight section l5 of each rib adjacent the junction point of said straight section it and the bowed section M. The nibs ll serve to hold the rib i3 securely in assembled position with respect to an inverted channel-shaped spacing ring [8, having a plurality of uniformly spaced apertures [9 in which said ribs l3 are adapted to be engaged.

The ring I8 is adapted to be positioned at the junction of the bowed section M and straight section [5 of each rib I3 with the nibs ll on said ribs located within the groove of the channel shaped ring H3. The spacing ring I3 is preferably made from an initially flat metal annular ring and formed up into U-shaped cross-section for producing a stiff strong construction.

The upper ends l6 of the ribs l3 are rigidly connected to a flat apex ring having a central drain aperture 2| and provided with a plurality of uniformly spaced notches 22 formed in the outer periphery thereof, as best shown in Fig. 5. The upper shouldered ends of the bowed channel sections M of the ribs l3 are adapted to be interfitted within the notches 22, and the tongues iii are then bent downwardly and outwardly around the inner periphery 23 of said ring 20, (see Fig. 4).

After all of the ribs have been assembled in the apex ring 20, a raised circular rib 24 is formed upon the intermediate part of said ring 20, and grooves 25 and beads 26 are formed simultaneous ly on the upper and lower wings respectively, of the tongue members It, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. This construction greatly increases the strength and rigidity of the device.

Assembly In the assembly of the strainer II], the bowed sections [4 of each rib I3 will first be inserted through the apertures IQ of the lower channelshaped spacing ring l8 from the under side thereof until the pair of nibs I! previously formed on said rib engages the underside of the body of said inverted ring l8 (see Fig. 3). The upper free end of the bowed section l4 of each rib will then be positioned within a notch 22 of the apex ring 20, and the integral tongue I 6 will be bent about said ring 20 as previously explained.

After all the ribs l3 have been thus assembled to form the complete strainer ID, the raised circular rib 24 will be formed in the apex ring 20 and the interfitting grooves 2'5 and beads 26 will be simultaneously formed in the upper and lower parts of the looped tongues l6 by means of suitable tools, not shown.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. '7, the construction is identical in all respects with the first form of strainer shown in Figs. 1 to 6, except that a lower rib-spacing ring 27 is employed having a plurality of uniformly spaced exterior loops 28 for receiving the lower straight portions of the ribs l3. The modified ring 27 is constructed from an initially channelshaped ring similar to the ring I 8, but after all the ribs l3 have been assembled therein, the sections 29 of the outer wing between said ribs I3 are crimped inwardly into contact with the inner wing of said ring l8, thus causing the ribs l3 to be tightly clamped in assembled position.

While there have been disclosed in this specification two forms in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that these forms are shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In a down spout strainer, a plurality of upstanding ribs having lower straight sections forming a cylindrical portion of the strainer, and upper outwardly bowed sections to form a cagelike domed section of said strainer, a rib spacing ring embracing the lower straight sections of said ribs, and an upper flat apex ring having a central drain aperture attached to the upper ends of said ribs, said apex ring having a plurality of spaced exterior circumferential notches for receiving the upper free ends of said ribs which are passed down through said central aperture.

2. In a down spout strainer, a plurality of upstanding ribs having lower straight parallel sections and upper outwardly bowed sections, a rib spacing ring of inverted channel shape engaging the straight portion of said ribs, and a flat apex ring provided with exterior notches having interlocking engagement with the upper free ends of said ribs.

3. In a down spout strainer, a plurality of upstanding ribs having lower straight parallel sections and upper outwardly bowedsections, said ribs being of U-shaped channel cross-section, a

rib-spacing ring engaging the ribs at the junction of said straight and bowed sections, an apex ring having interlocking engagement with the upper free ends of said ribs, and nib means formed on the straight section of said ribs to hold said spacing ring against the bowed section of said ribs.

4. In a down spout strainer, a plurality of upstanding ribs having lower straight sections and upper outwardly bowed sections, said ribs being of U-shaped channel cross-section, and a ribspacing ring positioned at an intermediate section of said ribs, said ring being of inverted channel-shape having uniformly spaced apertures through which said ribs are engaged, the intermediate portion of the outer wall of said channelshaped ring between said ribs being collapsed against the inner wall of said ring whereby a series of rib-embracing loops are provided for rigidly clamping said ring to said ribs.

5. A rib for a down spout strainer comprising a straight section and an integral bowed section, said rib being formed from strip metal bent into U-shaped cross-section, said rib having a flat locking tongue integrally formed at the free end of said bowed section.

CARL L. WEYAND. 

